Zirkoff B. - H. P. Blavatskys Literary Career: Difference between revisions

“Nuit mémorable! Certaine nuit, par un clair de lune qui se couchait à Ramsgate 12 Août, 1851,<ref>“Le 12 août—c’est juillet 31 style russe jour de ma naissance —''Vingt ans!''”</ref> lorsque je rencontrais [symbol] le Maître de mes rêves!!”

“Memorable night! On a certain night by the light of the moon that was setting at Ramsgate on August 12, 1851,<ref>“August 12 is July 31 in Russian style, the day of my birth—''Twenty years!''”</ref> when I met [symbol] the Master of my dreams!!

. . . Toutes les magnificences de la Nature,—le silence imposant de la nuit, les odeurs des fleurs,—les rayons pâles de la lune à travers les panaches verts des arbres,—les étoiles, fleurs de feu semées dans le ciel, les lucioles, fleurs de feu semées dans l’herbe,—tout cela a été créé pour rendre l’Adepte digne de la NATURE, au moment où, pour la première fois, elle dit à l’Homme, ''je t’appartiens'',—mot formé d’un céleste parfum de l’âme, qui s’exale et monte au ciel avec les parfums des fleurs,—moment, le seul de sa vie,—où il est roi, où il est Dieu, moment qu’il paye et qu’il expie par toute une existence de regrets amers.

«Ce moment; c’est le prix de toutes nos misères».

. . . . All the glories of Nature—the imposing silence of the night; the aroma of the flowers; the pale rays of the moon rough the green tufts of the trees; the stars, flowers of fire strewn over the sky; the glow-worms, flowers of fire strewn over the grass—all these have been created to render the Adept worthy of NATURE, at that moment when for the first time she exclaims to Man, “I am yours,”—words formed of a divine perfume from the soul, which, breathed forth ascends to heaven together with the perfume of the flowers—the one moment of his life when he is king, when he is God; the moment which he expiates and pays for with a whole life of bitter regrets.

“That moment—it is the price of all our miseries.”

La femme trouve son bonheur dans l’acquisition des pouvoirs surnaturels—l’amour—c’est un vilain rêve, un cauchemar.

Woman finds her happiness in the acquisition of supernatural powers—love is a vile dream, a nightmare.

<center>{{HPB-CW-comment|[English translation of the foregoing French text.]}}</center>

{{Style P-Title|LEGEND OF THE NIGHT-FLOWER<ref>{{HPB-CW-comment|[This more descriptive name has been chosen for our flower, instead of the very unromantic names of four-o’clock and marvel-of-Peru, by which it is known.]}}</ref>}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|[Page 9 has two heads in pencil, one en profile, the other en face, and some numbers and scrawls. Page 10 is blank. Pages 11-14 have faded photographs stuck on them: first a lady with some likeness to H.P.B., possibly her sister Vera Petrovna; then the portraits of H.P.B.’s maternal grandfather and grandmother, Andrey Mihailovich and Helena Pavlovna de Fadeyev, the latter with the date Tiflis, 1855; the last one is of an unidentified younger lady. Page 15 has a hasty pen-and-ink outline of a man; page 16, childish scrawls; page 17, the Greek alphabet with the names of the letters written in Russian script; pages 18 and 19 are occupied with a woman’s head in ink and two studies of seemingly Napoleon’s head; page 20 is blank; page 21 has some decorative letters; page 22 is blank also; on top of page 23 a Russian sentence written in pencil says: “Thy old copy-book. 1862.” It is in the handwriting of H.P.B.’s aunt Nadyezhda.}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|Page 24—reproduced herewith in facsimile—is occupied with pen drawings of Marguerite praying before a crucifix, with hands folded on her breast, and Mephistopheles whispering seductions in her ear, with a caption in pencil:}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|“. . . . I can tell him [Col. Olcott] that Mr. Agardi Mitrovich, whom all of us have known so well in Tiflis and at Odessa, and who was a friend to us all, could never have been either your husband or your lover, because he adored his wife who died two years before his own death, poor man, at Cairo; that she is buried in the cemetery of Tiflis, and that your mutual friendship dates from the year when he married his wife. Finally, everybody knows that it is we ourselves who had asked him to go and find you at Cairo, in order to accompany you to Odessa (in the year 1871), and that he died without bringing you back, after which you came back alone . . . .”}}

«. . . . Je puis lui dire que Mr. Agardi Mitrovich que nous avons si bien connu tous à Tiflis et à Odessa, et qui était l’ami à nous tous, n’a jamais pu être ni ton mari, ni ton amant, car il adorait sa femme morte deux ans avant sa mort à lui, pauvre homme, au Caire; qu’elle est enterrée à Tiflis, au cimetière, et que Votre amitié mutuelle date de l’année où il a épousé sa femme. Enfin tout le monde sait que c’est nous qui l’avons prié d’aller te chercher au Caire pour t’accompagner à Odessa (l’année 1871) et qu’il est mort sans te ramener, après quoi tu t’es retournée seule . . . »</ref> Madame de Fadeyev’s letter quoted above is in the Adyar Archives, together with a large number of other letters from her pen.}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|Various facts about Mitrovich may be gathered by consulting The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett (pp. 143-44, 147, 148, 189-91). On page 144 of this work, H.P.B. states that she met him “in Tiflis in 1861, again with his wife, who died after I had left in 1865 I believe.” This date is of course relevant to the one we find in our Sketchbook.}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|From the above description of the contents of this Sketchbook, it is evident that it belongs to a very early period in H.P.B.’s life, many years prior to the beginning of her literary career.]}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|[We have seen from the Chronological Survey of H.P.B.’s early life how little information is available about her moves and whereabouts immediately after leaving the Caucasus in 1865. There is, however, in the Adyar Archives a document which throws some light upon this period of H.P.B.’s endless wanderings. It is a special Notebook only two-and-a-half by four inches in size, in which she made rather copious notes in black pencil about her impressions while travelling in Eastern Europe. She wrote in French, inserting here and there a few names in Russian. Some parts of the text are faded, a few words are illegible, and the punctuation is somewhat uncertain, but on the whole these notes have been rather well-preserved and are of special interest.}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|In the pocket attached to the back cover of this Notebook there is a Roman Catholic Church Calendar of the year 1851, printed in French. and a small piece of paper bearing the following name written by H.P.B. in Russian:}}

Kronstadt. Brassó—Transylvania. Hôtel Grüner Baum. Comfortable et bon marché. M. et Mme. Burcheg—professeur de Gymnase. Jeune suisse un peu pédant. Elle joua de la flûte et [est] hongroise. La vieille Mme. Kántor aveugle.—Kronstadt est une des plus jolies petites villes d l’Europe par sa position, sa propreté, et de son élégance. Mais tout près, l’Eau de Borszék y est fameuse.—Venant de Bucarest les Zlapari vous demandent vos passeports et vous font payer le droit de ne pas examiner vos malles en les bouleversant de leurs mains sales. Population fort mixte des valaques, hongrois et souabes. L’architecture des maisons de villes est entièrement changée. Chaque maison porte la date de la construction sur le toit.¹

Hermannstadt (Szeben)

Hôtel de Römischer Kaiser. Voleur hongrois. H. Couronne de Hongrie allemand et plus voleur encore. La ville bien moins jolie que Kronstadt est inondée d’officiers autrichiens—Polonais pour la plupart. Régiment Hartmann. Tütch Kapelmeister—Czech. Le soldat violoniste virtuose français. Discussion eternelle sur Mouravieff et Haynau.² Le conseiller Traposta co-Carbonari ayant déjà reçu un coup de poigne d’une main inconnue. Sa femme compositeur de musique László Anna. Le commissaire de police polonais partant pour épouser à Bucarest le monstre des {{Page aside|13}}foires Flora. Blagueur, menteur et voleur comme polonais et employé autrichien. Église Luthérienne toute sculptée. Beauté unique. Statue St. Nepomucène. 8 h. de Krons.

Karlsburg. Fehérvár (Alba Julia). Ancien camp Romain. Restes et ruines, pour le moment ville juive et forteresse autrichienne. Hôtel de Ung. Krone, Adolf Benedict, juif hongrois. Prétendant être le premier bariton du monde. Bon marché. Le maudit Kántor! La société Neeman. Le juif Lion Emmanuel Mendl. Violon de dentiste Peterka. 8 h. de diligence.

Klausenburg—(Kolozsvár). Nous gelons en route. Grande ville assez belle. Vieille cathédrale de 700 ans. Beau théâtre. Hôtel Biasini. Cher et mal. Directeur Fehérváry. Szephédy. (Mlle Schönberg) juive de Temesvár. Mme. Nagy Hubert, Fekete. Philipovich M. Le bariton sifflé Heksh.

La baron Bánffy et le Comte Esterházy—grande fureur du pianiste Litolff—le dernier jour de la Terreur de Robespierre.³ Orchestre. La Comtesse Mikes. Le gouverneur général français le Comte Crenneville. Fêtes de la Constitution.⁴ Canons autrichiens bloqués sur la place. 10 h. de diligence de Karlsburg.

Grosswardein (Nagyvárad). Énorme ville juive. Beaucoup d’hôtels, beaucoup d’églises. Chemin de fer. 24 h. de diligence de Kolozsvár.

Debreczen. 6 heures de chemin de fer de G. Ward. Jolie ville. Le plus beau théâtre de Hongrie, plus beau qu’à Pesth. Le cœur de la Hongrie. Tous Hongrois, peu d’allemands. Bal des ouvriers maçons. Bal de Tzigan.

Arad. 6 h. de Debreczen par chemin de fer à Szolnok. On y couche. De Szolnok autres 6 h. ch. de fer à Arad. Très grande ville. Tous Hongrois. Beaucoup d’aristocratie. Le pont près de la forteresse, où l’on a fusillé et pendu en 1849 13 généraux Hongrois. Fêtes de la Constitution. Drapeaux tricolores partout. Les autrichiens s’y cachaient. Petit théâtre infect. M. et Mme. Folinus. Le maestro Caldy. M. et Mme. {{Page aside|14}}Marzel. Szép Heléna.⁵ Dalfy, Dalnoly et Mlle Visconti. Mme. Lukács. Braves gens.

Temesvár. 8 h. diligence. Charmante ville mais allemande et triste. Hôtels magnifiques. La ville forteresse est entourée des 4 côtés par 4 faubourgs communicant à la forteresse par le parc. Le parc Coronini est le plus beau. Énorme distance si l’on compte les faubourgs. M. et Mme. Reiman. Mme. Kirchberger prima donna admirable Lucretia. Bariton Malechevsky. Rossi ténor. Opéra allemand. Murad effendi.—Beaucoup de Serbes.

Belgrade. 6 h. ch. fer jusqu’à Bazias, de là bateau par Danube jusqu’à Belgrade 7 heures. Rencontre avec Mr. Vizkelety. Horrible ville sale, turque, laide, mal pavée mais pleine de ducats. Mme. Anka Obrenovich, le Comte Campo. Shishkin, Consul russe. Ignaccio, Consul d’Italie, Société philharmonique. — M. Feodorovich, Voulatch. Milovouk des Stojan, Svetozar Vadim Radevoy en masse. Les turcs étaient entrain de vider la forteresse. Rezi Pacha s’en allait par ordre de Sultan et les serbes fêtaient leur libertê. Obrenovich Michael partait pour Constantinople remercier le Sultan.⁶ 101 coups de canon tirés. Chanson Serbe dédiée au Prince. L’infâme Joanovich intendant au Prince. Le métropolite de 28 ans, élevé à Moscou. Hôtel infecte et sale. Bateaux à vapeur allant 2 fois par jour à Semlin qui est vis-à-vis.

Pancsova, Autriche. 3 h. de bateau par Danube. Jolie ville propre, population mixte serbes et allemands. Beaucoup d’hôtels et beaux magasins.

Semlin. 3 h. bateau de Pancsova, un trou allemand et serbe. 4 jours à s’embêter à l’hôtel de Venise—attendant le bateau pour Neusatz. Jolie vue sur Belgrade de l’autre côté du Danube. Beaucoup de capitaines de marine, officiers autrichiens faisant l’amour sous les fenêtres — à chaque maison.

Neusatz, Novosad. Ville tout à fait serbe, peu d’hongrois (7 heures de Semlin Danube). Hôtel Grüner Kranz {{Page aside|15}}infecte et voleur. Hôtel Elisabeth très beau. Popovich rédacteur de journal. Sa femme actrice serbe, beauté splendide. Lue parlant russe et français. Mr. Vizkelety et sa femme 2 filles, Irma et— Braves hongrois. Café de Teremeich Demovladeko. Sa fille Maria. Les frères pravoslavny. Joanovich, Stojanovich et autres. Mr. Isau ex-précepteur des enfants du G. D. Michel (Mr. Vermily).

Betchkerek. 2 h. de bateau jusqu’à Titel, petit endroit infect sur Theiss et à 2h. du Danube, de là 3 heures par diligence jusqu’à Betchkerek. La ville est sale et laide. Beaucoup de serbes et d’hongrois surtout des juifs. Les derniers veulent les droits égaux aux chrétiens. Députation juive envoyée au ministre hongrois de Pesth. Refus du Cte. Andrássy. Théâtre national serbe, le Tchizmar.

Eszek (Slavonie) de Betchkerek à Titel (Wagen). Bateau à vapeur pour Neusatz, jour et coucher la nuit au bateau jusqu’à l’embouchure de Drava. On change de bateau et on va par Drava 3 h. jusqu’à Eszek, composée de 3 villes qui entourent la fortresse qui est énorme. Oberstadt, Neustadt et Unterstadt. Population serbes presque tous, catholiques allemands et hongrois. De 500 à 1000 prisonniers tant politiques que pour autres crimes. Ville très jolie mais fort ennuyeuse. On voit la journée entière des détachements de prisonniers dont les jambes sont enchaînées et suivis de soldats avec leurs fusils—passer par les rues. Il n’y a qu’un mois que les prisonniers politiques italiens 800 en tout furent libérés par réclamation du Gouvt. Italien. Le théâtre dans l’Oberstadt est un vrai bijou, mais tous les directeurs se ruinent car ici la majorité du public sont des officiers qui ne payent que 20 Kr. l’entrée comme partout.⁷ Il y a quelques années quand il y eut famine en Serbie et Slavonie que les Auts. proposèrent au peuple pravoslavny, de travailler aux grandes routes, moyennant 1 fl. par jour toute l’année—mais à condition—de prendre la religion catholique—autrement on les laissait mourir de faim. Dans la forteresse le meilleur hôtel est Weisen Wolf, bon marché. Ici comme dans d’autres villes de la Serbie, Slavonie et Autriche, tous les passants, hommes, femmes, {{Page aside|16}}aristocrates ou plèbes vous saluent dans la rue sans vous, connaître et les enfants à la vue des personnes de bas étage ajoutent même infailliblement Küss die Hand!—Ce qui m’a fort étonné. O, [nous] subirons toute la journée.

Verchetz, grande ville fort sale—population serbe toute. Grand commerce de vin. Obradovich Kosta—tous Russophiles. 2 h. p. équipage la route Weisskirchen. Petite ville charmante toute enterrée dans les vignes. 1 quart d’heure chemin de fer de Verchetz et à 1 quart d’heure de Bu . . . . . serbes et allemands detestant les uns les autres. Hôtel de Soleil bon marché et bon. Breton, Bouletich le bâfrent. Environs magnifiques.

Horowitz. Demi village, demi ville, fabriques et ouvriers. La ville est enfouie dans les montagnes (bas Banat) mines d’or mais le gouvernement ayant acheté aux hongrois le terrain n’a plus le moyen d’avoir des ouvriers et on ne trouve que 4-5. . . . . . d’or par semaine. Ressemble à Borzhom.⁸ Sign. Scoffa. Mr. Veuv, Bach. Population valaque et allemande. 6 h. de voiture de Weisskirchen.

Rechitza, grande et belle ville à 5 ou 6 énormes fabriques contenant 5 mille ouvriers presque tous prussiens et anglais. Énormes mines de fer. Compagnie française du Crédit Mobilier. Le plus beau pays du monde, une Suisse . . . . . . Mme. Borz virtuose de piano. Ses sœurs. La famille Mack. 8 h. de voiture de Horowitz. Limite du haut Banat, la plus pittoresque route de l’univers. 14 h. de voiture de Temesvár.

Temesvár — X.

Kikinda. 2 h. de chemin de fer de Temesvár, grande bourgade. Mme. Stoikovich et ses neuf filles. Mr. Stefanovich, le colonel Anneti-Monti.

Hazfeld. 1 heure de Kik. chemin de fer.

Mehadia. Bains minéraux, seule et unique rue toute composée d’hôtels splendides et énormes, Hercules Bad, Röber Hôtel. La caverne des brigands dont le souterrain va de Mehadia jusqu’à Orsova. Fameuse légende de Ludwig {{Page aside|17}}le chef des brigands qui a donné son nom aux bains. Environs splendides.

Körös-Maros Sebes. Ville de frontière, petite, sale et ennuyeuse.

Lugos, jolie ville hongroise.

{{HPB-CW-comment|[On the remaining pages of the Notebook we find H.P.B.’s notes of various travelling expenses, most likely both transportation and food; these are written in Russian. She also lists certain monies received by her, but does not indicate their source. On one of the middle pages of the Notebook we find a sketch made by H.P.B. showing the geographical position on the map of some of the places she visited during this journey.]}}

<center>{{HPB-CW-comment|[Translation of the foregoing French text.]}}</center>

Kronstadt. Brassó — Transylvania. Hotel Grüner Baum. Comfortable and cheap. Mr. and Mad. Burcheg—teacher in the Gymnasium. Young Swiss, a bit pedantic. She is Hungarian and plays the flute. Old, blind Mad. Kántor. Kronstadt is one of the nicest small towns in Europe owing to its location, cleanliness and elegance. Quite near to it are the famous mineral waters of Borszék.—Coming from Bucharest, the Zlaparis ask for your passport, and make you pay for not examining your trunks by turning them inside out with their dirty hands. Very mixed population of Wallachians, Hungarians and Swabians. The architecture of the houses is entirely different. Each house has the date of its construction on the roof.¹

Hermannstadt (Szeben)

Hotel Römischer Kaiser. A Hungarian thief. Hotel of the Hungarian Crown, German and a still greater thief. {{Page aside|18}}The town is far from being as nice as Kronstadt, and is flooded with Austrian officers, mainly Poles. Regiment Hartmann. The Conductor of the band is Tütch, a Czech. The soldier violinist is a French virtuoso. Eternal discussion about Muraviov and Haynau.² Councilman Traposta, co-Carbonari, has already been stabbed by an unknown hand. His wife László Anna, is a composer of music. The Chief of Police, a Pole, was about to leave for Bucharest, to marry the monster of the fairs, Flora. Being a Pole and an Austrian employee, he is a humbug, a liar, and a thief. Lutheran church, all full of sculptures. Unique beauty. Statue of St. Nepomuk. 8 hours from Kronstadt.

Karlsburg. Fehérvár (Alba Julia). Ancient Roman camp. Remains and ruins. At present a Jewish town and an Austrian Fort. Hotel Ung. Krone. Adolf Benedict, Hungarian Jew, pretending to be the foremost baritone of the world. Cheap. Damned Kántor! The Neeman Society. The Jew Lion Emmanuel Mendl. Violin of the dentist Peterka. 8 hours by coach.

Klausenburg—(Kolozsvár). We are freezing on our way. A large and rather beautiful town. A 700 years old Cathedral. Nice theatre. Hotel Biasini. Expensive and bad. Director Fehérváry. Szephédy. (Miss Schönberg), a Jewess from Temesvár. Mme. Nagy Hubert, Fekete. Philipovich M. Heksh, the hissed baritone.

The Baron Bánffy and the Count Esterházy — Great success of the pianist Litolff—the last day of the Terreur of Robespierre.³ Orchestra. The Countess Mikes. The French Governor-General Count Crenneville. Festival of the Constitution.⁴ Austrian cannons jammed on the square. 10 hours by coach from Karlsburg.

Grosswardein (Nagyvárad). Large Jewish town. Many hotels and churches. Railway. 24 hours by coach from Kolozsvár.

Debreczen. 6 hours by train from G. Ward. Nice town. The most beautiful theatre in Hungary, more beautiful {{Page aside|19}}than in Pesth. The heart of Hungary. All Hungarians, few Germans. Ball of the Masons. Ball of the Tzigans.

Arad. 6 hours by train from Debreczen to Szolnok. Spent the night there. From there another 6 hours by train to Arad. A very large town. Entirely Hungarian. Many aristocrats. The bridge near the fortress where 13 Hungarian Generals were shot and hanged in 1849. Festival of the Constitution. Tricoloured [Hungarian] flags everywhere. The Austrians hide themselves. A small and unpleasant theatre. Mr. and Mad. Folinus. The maestro Cáldy. Mr. and Mme. Marzel. Szép Helena.⁵ Dalfy, Dalnoly and Mlle. Visconti. Mme. Lukács. Decent people.

Temesvár. 8 hours by coach. A charming place, but German and doleful. Magnificent hotels. The Fort is surrounded on all four sides by four suburbs communicating with the Fort through the park. The Coronini park is the most beautiful. Enormous distances if one reckons the suburbs. Mr. and Mme. Reiman. Mme. Kirchberger, prima donna and admirable Lucretia. Baritone Malechevsky. Tenor Rossi. German Opera. Murad effendi. Many Serbians.

Belgrade. 6 hours by train to Bazias; thence 7 hours by steamer on the Danube to Belgrade. Meeting with Mr. Vizkelety. Horrible, dirty city, Turkish, ugly, badly paved but full of ducats. Mme. Anka Obrenoviæ, the Count Campo. Shishkin, the Russian Consul. Ignaccio, the Italian Consul. Philharmonic Society—M. Feodorovich, Voulatch. Milovouk of the Stoyans, Svetozar Vadim Radevoy en masse. The Turks were busy evacuating the fortress. Rezi Pasha was about to leave by order of the Sultan, and the Serbs celebrated their freedom. Michael Obrenoviæ was going to Constantinople to thank the Sultan.⁶ Cannons were fired 101 times. Serbian song dedicated to the Prince. Joanovich, the wretched superintendent of the Prince. The twenty-eight years old Metropolitan, educated in Moscow. Dirty and disgusting hotel. Steamers twice a day to Semlin on the opposite side.

Pancsova, Austria. 3 hours by steamer on the Danube. {{Page aside|20}}Nice, clean town, mixed population of Serbs and Germans. Many hotels and beautiful stores.

Semlin, 3 hours by steamer from Pancsova, a German and Serbian hole. Four days of boredom in the Hotel Venice, awaiting the steamer for Neusatz. Nice view of Belgrade on the opposite bank of the Danube. Many Captains of the Navy. Austrian officers flirting at the windows—in every house.

Neusatz, Novosad. Altogether Serbian town, few Hungarians (7 hours from Semlin along the Danube). Hotel Grüner Kranz, disgusting and thievish. Very nice Hotel Elizabeth. Popovich, newspaper editor. His wife—a Serbian actress of outstanding beauty. He speaks Russian and French. Mr. Vizkelety, his wife and two daughters, Irma and—decent Hungarians. Coffee Shop of Teremeich Domovladeko. His daughter Maria. The brothers are Orthodox. Joanovich, Stoyanovich and others. Mr. Isau, ex-tutor of the children of Grand Duke Michael (Mr. Vermily).

Becskerek. 2 hours by steamer to Titel, a dirty little place on the Theiss and 2 hours from the Danube. From there 3 hours by coach to Becskerek. The town is dirty and unsightly. Many Serbs and Hungarians, mainly Jews. The latter want the same rights as the Christians. Jewish delegation sent to the Hungarian Minister at Pesth. Count Andrássy refused. National Serbian theatre—the Tchizmar.

Eszék (Slavonia). From Becskerek to Titel (coach). Steamer to Neusatz, day and night on the steamer down to the mouth of the river Drava. Change of steamer and 3 hours upstream on the Drava to Eszék, consisting of three parts surrounding the Fort which is enormous. Oberstadt, Neustadt and Unterstadt. Almost entirely Serbian population. The Austrians and Hungarians are Catholics. Between 500 and 1,000 prisoners, both political and for other crimes. A very beautiful town, but very boring. One sees the whole day long groups of prisoners in chains marching along the streets, escorted by soldiers armed with rifles. Just a month ago 800 Italian political prisoners were {{Page aside|21}}released on demand from the Italian Government. The theatre in Oberstadt is a real gem, but the managers are ruined because the majority of the public here are officers who pay only 20 Kr. for admission, as everywhere else.⁷ Some years ago, when there was a famine in Serbia and Slavonia, the Austrians offered to the Orthodox people work, building roads, at the rate of 1 florin per day throughout the year, but on condition of embracing the Catholic faith; otherwise they would be left to starve. In the Fort the best hotel is Weisen Wolf, cheap. Here as in other cities Serbia, Slavonia and Austria, all the passers-by in the streets, men, women, aristocrats and commoners alike, greet you without knowing you; and the children add unfailingly: Küss die Hand—which was a great surprise to me. Well, we’ll submit to it all day long.

Verchetz, a very dirty large town, population entirely Serbian. Great trade in wine. Obradovich Kosta—all Russophiles. 2 hours by coach to Weisskirchen. A charming little town surrounded by vineyards. A quarter of an hour from Verchetz by train and the same from Bu . . . . . Serbians and Austrians detesting each other. Hôtel de Soleil, cheap and good. Breton, Bouletich and gluttony. Magnificent surroundings.

Horowitz. Half village, half town. Factories and working people. The place is buried in the mountains (Lower Banat); gold mines. The Government, however, having bought the ground from the Hungarians, is unable to get labourers, and one finds but 4 or 5 . . . . . . of gold per week. It resembles Borzhom.⁸ Sigr. Scoffa. Mr. Veuv. Bach. Wallachian and German population. 6 hours by coach from Weisskirchen.

Rechitza. Large and beautiful city with 5 or 6 factories employing five thousand workers, nearly all Prussians and English. Enormous iron ore mines. The French Company of Crédit Mobilier. The most beautiful country in the world, another Switzerland . . . . . . Mme. Borz, piano virtuoso. Her sisters. The Mack family. 8 hours by coach {{Page aside|22}}from Horowitz. Boundary of the High Banat, the most picturesque route in the universe. 14 hours by coach from Temesvár.

Temesvár — X.

Kikinda. Two hours by train from Temesvár; large village. Mme. Stoykovich and her nine daughters. Mr. Stefanovich, Colonel Anneti-Monti.

Hatzfeld. One hour by train from Kikinda.

Mehadia. Mineral baths. Only one street consisting of enormous and splendid hotels. Hercules Bad. Röber Hotel. The cave of the brigands with a tunnel reaching from Mehadia to Orsova. Famous legend about Ludwig, the chief of the brigands, who has given his name to the Spa. Splendid surroundings.

Körös-Maros Sebes. Frontier town, small, dirty and boring.

Lugos, nice Hungarian town.

{{HPB-CW-comment|The above information has been verified in the Hungarian State Archives, so that there can be no doubt that H.P.B. was in Belgrade at this specific time. Consult also Jenö Horváth, History of Diplomacy, Vol. 1, p. 188, in connection with these political events.}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|[There are also in the Adyar Archives eight small Notebooks, numbered 1 to 8, in which H.P.B. made various notations, copied quotations from various writings and references to works she had apparently consulted. Here and there appears some original material from her own pen, mainly on the subject of occult teachings, such as the lokas and the states of consciousness. There are also some translated passages from French and other books. Much of this material belongs to the period when she was working on Isis Unveiled; some of it refers to The Secret Doctrine; and one of the Notebooks has reference to The Key to Theosophy. It is obvious, therefore, that none of this material belongs to her early years, and whatever there is from her own pen in these Notebooks will be found in later volumes of the present Series.]}}